Get Out of Your Head
“Wild animals run from the dangers they actually see, and once they escape they worry no more. We however are tormented by past and future.” — Seneca
The Obstacle
We think all day, thoughts that mostly unnoticed.
And the ones we do notice often bring us to live in two places that don’t exist:
The Past:
Regrets replay. Arguments re-written. Old victories polished.
We suffer the memory like it’s happening now.
The Future:
Plans, predictions, what-ifs.
We script scenarios that rarely unfold as imagined.
We fear outcomes we will likely never meet.
Drifting backward and forward, we miss the only place life happens — now.
Performance falls. Connection fades as from lack of presence.
Autopilot takes over and we drift through life unconscious.
The Gift and Opportunity
We can plan for this. We know our thoughts will be pulled away from the present and so we can prepare and watch for the mind to wander.
The moment we notice the drift, we have a choice.
The past is gone. The future isn’t real.
The present is the only place in time that exists, plan to be there.
By returning to the body — feeling, breath, sound, taste, any sensation — we return to the present.
Focus sharpens. Energy returns. Connections are felt.
Insight can rise where noise once lived.
The opportunity is simple:
Stop living with ghosts and predictions.
Come back to the moment you’re actually in.
Actually be where you are, with who you’re with, doing what you’re doing - choose to be nowhere else.
The Practice of Self-Mastery
Presence is a skill and a practice — not a wish. It takes work to even notice we are somewhere else.
To help bring your focus back, set reminders. I use a countdown timer on my watch for every 45 minutes or so - it buzzes and I check in with myself. Do something regularly that interrupts autopilot. We are unlikely to simply, remember to check in.
Catch yourself drifting and step back inside your own skin, reclaim the NOW.
Here are a few quick tickets to get back into your body and the present time. Most of these work best with your eyes closed:
Feet: feel the pressure, the ground, the weight.
Breath: inhale, exhale — stay with it from the tip of the nose to the bottom of the lungs and out through the lips.
Sound: the farthest thing you can hear… then the closest. Don’t try to hear anything, just really focus on the sounds.
Sight: stare at one object until detail emerges. Notice something that is close to you. See something small for the first time.
Body: scan sensations in the body — explore what calls.
Unprompted and uninvited thoughts will come early and often.
Acknowledge. Release. Return. Repeat… That’s the practice.
Over and over until presence becomes more the default, your new autopilot. Try not to be frustrated, it takes years, but the payoff for each practice is immediate!
You may be shocked how much life you’ve been missing.
How quickly clarity returns.
How the whispers of wisdom can find you when the noise is cut and you are here in the moment.
The way we connect with others when we are actually present in mind and body.
Get out of your head.
Get into your body.
Be Here — Now.
